What Older Adults Read: Data Mining of Patterns and Types of Reading among the Elderly

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 PhD Candidate in Knowledge and Information Science, Faculty of Psychology and Education, Kharazmi University, Tehran, Iran.

2 Assistant Professor, Department of Knowledge and Information Science, Faculty of Psychology and Education, Kharazmi University, Tehran, Iran

3 Professor, Department of Knowledge and Information Science, Faculty of Psychology and Education, Kharazmi University, Tehran, Iran.

Abstract

Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the reading patterns and reading types of older adults.
Methodology: The research utilized data mining techniques and classification/clustering algorithms. The sample comprised 918,324 book loan records from the public library management system in Iran. The data were analyzed using Excel, SPSS, and Clementine software.
Findings: The findings revealed that elderly men borrowed approximately 2.5 times more books than elderly women. In terms of age, most book loans by older adults were recorded in the early stages of old age. Books in the literature category accounted for about half of the reading interests, while those in the history and geography category made up approximately one-fifth. Older adult users showed a greater tendency to read topics related to literature, history, and religion compared to the general population. The data mining results indicated that the variables of gender, education, age, and occupation were predictors of the subjects of books read by older adults, in that order. Gender was identified as the primary predictor, with education level serving as the second predictor for women and age group as the second predictor for men. Overall, women tended to favor Iranian literature, while men preferred non-literary books. Cluster analysis also identified five distinct clusters of older adult reading profiles based on their characteristics and book categories.
Conclusion: This study showed that the reading interests of older adults differ from the general population, and the topics of interest among the elderly are diverse and influenced by their demographic characteristics.

Keywords

References

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History

  • Receive Date: 17 June 2024
  • Revise Date: 08 October 2024
  • Accept Date: 26 January 2025

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